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Friday, December 28, 2012

The name
of my first book is God Has Better Things to do Than My Laundry. I clarify that it’s my first book so that you
won’t think that I am an expert by any stretch of the imagination. This body of work is far from what The
Notebook was to Nicholas Sparks. As you
will notice the first word in the title of my book is God. It seems that there is some confusion by
people that I have never met and maybe even by some I have as to what this book
is about.

I am
here to clarify for you. This book is
about our lives, my life to be more specific about it, although perhaps there
are those that can identify with what I write about. Perhaps you have been where I have; you have
experienced much of the same things that I have. I happen to be a Christian. I believe in the Father and I believe in the
Son. I believe that Jesus came down and
died on a cross for me and not just for me but for you also. I believe it even though I cannot see it, but
I have to challenge you to look at the faces of your children and the sunset on
a warm summer day and try to explain it any other way. My belief in God is talked about in my
book. God is a headliner in the title of
my book. God made the mere possibility
of the book a thought in my head and He is the one who made it possible.

I do not
claim to be a professional. I do not
even claim to be good. I write not for
the fame of those who have come before me but because to not write seems an
impossibility. Because if I don’t write
I will never get to say all I have to say.
Because If I don’t write no one will know necessarily how much I love my
family and how very much I love my God.
As has been established I am not a public speaker. I’m not one to witness to the masses on a
stage or even to a classroom, but I will type my thoughts and express myself
with words on a page.

If you
are expecting a Bible study you won’t find it on the pages of my book. If you are expecting a work of great fiction
or for me to not talk about God you will be severely disappointed in my
book. My book is not even something I
wanted to share with the public at large. It was an idea, a dream, a little something
that maybe I might attempt someday. That
someday happened and while I am thankful for the opportunities that God has
presented me with, I am at a loss as to handle people who don’t get it. Maybe because I don’t get it, I don’t get the
plan, I haven’t been filled in as it were to what God has planned with all of
this and why on earth He would choose me to carry this out. I only know that I am trying very hard to be
obedient whether I “get it” or not.

The
thing is although this book is about me, the project really isn't. This isn't about me, it’s about God. It’s about His plan, His timing, His work,
His will for me. Whatever that looks
like, that’s it. There is no clear end
in the book because it’s ongoing. This
work He is doing is ongoing. My life as
it were continues and has continued even in times when I thought for sure that
it wouldn't and couldn't and shouldn't.
It has and it will until God deems it differently. Until then I will continue to write what He
gives me to put on a page. I will type
out the stories of our family and I will watch as it all unfolds as words on a
page.

You don’t
have to read it. You don’t even have to
like it. But if you cannot type out the
name of God I can only hope that maybe something will speak to you in the
message He has given me to convey. If
not then I am sorry you chose a book with the first word of the title being
God. I don’t understand your
thinking. But I am a believer and I will
never apologize to anyone for whom or what I am. Take it or leave it, I am who I am and I won’t
apologize to anyone for that either. Why
should I? I am the daughter of a King
and He doesn't make mistakes.

Monday, December 24, 2012

According to the Mayan calendar I shouldn't be typing on my
computer today. The end of the world
should have happened on December 21, 2012.
The speculation surrounding that date has been made into movies, some
were scared to send their children to school.
Meanwhile, the schools here were canceled due to weather and a lack of
power at one of the schools. We didn't rejoice, in fact my teenagers were pretty distraught. They had hoped to finish up their final exams
that day. That day may go down in
history as the first day that my children were NOT excited about a snow day.

I have to ask the question:
Were you concerned? In our house
we made jokes. I also informed my
children that if Jesus did decide to come back on that day I was ready. I operate under what I know to be fact. The Bible says that no man knows when the
coming will be. The Mayans were not told
before the Son. That’s a fact. The Mayans probably got tired of calendar
making and instead started working on something else. I have no idea what happened, maybe they
thought it would be funny to mess with a future generation they wouldn't be
around to see, and just stopped.

It wasn't the end of the world but is it the end of
Christmas as we know it? All over the
world people are finishing their Christmas shopping and wrapping in preparation
for the big day. We count gifts and make
sure that we have enough for everyone; we think to be sure we haven’t left
anyone out. We get together with family
and some members don’t even speak to each other. Some go into debt in an effort to provide
their children with the best possible Christmas and for what? What does Christmas mean? I hear people asking for specific gifts. “Johnny wants a pair of jeans but they must
come from the Buckle because otherwise he won’t wear them.” “Sally wants Ugg boots.” “Fred wants a flat screen TV.” Seriously, I have to ask myself what happened
to Christmas?

In a manger thousands of years ago a Savior was born with no
crib for a bed. He was wrapped in
swaddling cloths and placed in a manger.
No heat, no air conditioning, no Pampers, no layette, no hospital staff,
no sterile conditions did our Savior have for a beginning. No He was born in a barn with farm animals
and the smell of well…farm animals. Do
you get it? Did Mary have a baby
shower? Did the mother of our Savior, a
teenage girl, get the things she would need to care for a newborn? No.
She was visited by three Wise Men who brought gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. What was she supposed to do with
that? They rejoiced. They celebrated the birth of the Son of
God.

What are we celebrating?
We get together with our families and we exchange gifts and sometimes we
don’t exchange words. We don’t even see
them the rest of the year. We make no
effort. We buy them gifts and send them
on their way and think that covers us for the rest of the year. Is this of God? Is this what God intended for us to do in
celebration of the greatest gift known to mankind? I hardly think so. I am not saying we shouldn't get together
with our families. I am not even saying
we shouldn't exchange gifts. What I am
saying is this: Can we do those things
and remember the purpose? Can we do
those things and remember why we celebrate in the first place? Or have we become so commercialized that we
can’t even remember why?

I don’t want to go through the motions. I don’t want to get so wrapped up in the
things of this world that I have forgotten who gave them to me to begin
with. I don’t want to forget the true
meaning of Christmas. I want to REJOICE
for our Savior was born. In ALL things
rejoice.

About Me

When I was young I loved reading Erma Bombeck books. I have finally accomplished my dream of writing my own book. I'm a wife and a mother of three and when I'm not writing about my family I enjoy reading a good book and drinking coffee drinks that I don't know how to order. If you enjoy what you read, feel free to follow me on my blog.